We’re two episodes into season 6 of “SEAL Team,” now streaming exclusively on Paramount+, and things are looking very bad for Bravo Team. Team Leader Jason Hayes is in trouble, and the Pentagon is looking to scale back special operations as it reevaluates military priorities in the wake of the Afghanistan War.
The good news is that Clay Spenser survived the injuries he suffered in the ambush in Mali that ended season 5 and dominated the first act of the current season’s first episode. The bad news is that his right leg was amputated below the knee, and he faces a long and difficult rehabilitation process as he tries to adjust to his new prosthetic.
The entire plot of episode one builds toward Clay’s death as he struggles to overcome an infection in his torn leg. Since most viewers know that actor Max Thieriot will star in the new CBS series Fire Country, this seems like the right time for his character to die and leave the show. The final scene is a shocker, as it shows Clay recovering from his amputation.
Episode two picks up a few months later with Clay back home in Virginia and working on his rehabilitation. His fractured friendship with Sonny (AJ Buckley) is back on track, and Clay’s wife Stella (Alona Tal) seems ready to support him as he raises their infant son Brian.
Anyone who has ever watched television knows that Clay’s recovery will not continue to go smoothly throughout the season. Clay will encounter setbacks, frustrations, and communication issues with Stella. We’ll all have to tune in to find out how things will all work out.
More concerning is the health of Captain Jason Hayes (star and series producer David Boreanaz). After being diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury in season five, he didn’t tell his commanding officers about his condition and sought treatment outside of the Navy’s medical support team.
Jason claims that an experimental stem cell treatment is helping, and he’s paying $2,000 in cash for each treatment so there’s no record of what’s going on. He’s rekindled his romance with Mandy Ellis (Jessica Paré), so her character is back on the show, at least temporarily.
This TBI stem cell therapy is a real thing in the real world, and while it’s shown promising results for some, it’s still a long way from being an accepted treatment. Jason’s condition, combined with the fact that he’s been lying to the Navy, seems like a bombshell that’s going to go off at some point this season.
On top of that, Lisa Davis (Toni Trucks) is currently serving on a committee that’s analyzing the current military situation and making recommendations for the future. There’s a strong sense in the room that the United States has become too reliant on spearhead operations without paying attention to the overall military situation. Lisa has a feeling that one or more SEAL teams will be disbanded at the end of this process, and the aging Bravo Team seems like a prime candidate for closure.
Is that enough drama for you? Will Clay get his act together and adjust to life with a prosthetic leg? Will Jason recover from his brain injury or suffer the consequences of hiding his condition from the Navy? Will Bravo Team survive?
New episodes will be streaming every Sunday on Paramount+, and we have eight episodes left in the 10-episode season.
The answer depends on whether the “SEAL Team” crew wants to wrap up the story this year or continue for years to come. No one associated with the show has given any hints, so we’ll have to wait for news in the coming months as season six continues.
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